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FAQs: The Maryland Prepaid College Trust

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Interested in the Maryland Prepaid College Trust, but still have questions? Get the answers here!

What is the Prepaid College Trust?

Who can enroll?

Do I need to be a Maryland resident?

Where can I use the Prepaid College Trust?

What is considered a Maryland Public College?

How can I use the money in the Prepaid College Trust?

What does the Weighted Average Tuition mean?

What is the current year Weighted Average Tuition?

What are Minimum Benefits?

What happens if my child gets a scholarship, grant or tuition remission? Will it affect my plan benefits?

Does the Prepaid College Trust have more than one payment option?

How do I change my payment option?

Can I pay off my account early?

Can the Plan be used towards graduate school?

Are the funds in the account refundable?

Are there any fees or expenses involved with the Prepaid College Trust?

What is a legislative guarantee?

How to Use Your Benefits

What if the student does not attend a college in Maryland?

What if the student attends school part time instead of full time?

What if a Maryland public college does not offer the program I wish to study? Can I use my Prepaid College Trust in-state benefits to go out-of-state?

What if my Beneficiary delays college attendance?

What happens to the funds if my child delays college to serve in the military?

Funding your Plan and Choosing a Payment Option


How do I open an account? Can I change my tuition plan and payment options? Can I transfer my account to another 529 plan? If I rollover my Prepaid College Trust account, how much will the transferrable amount be worth? Can I rollover my account to the College Investment Plan? How can I contribute to the account? Can I use Upromise contributions to fund my Prepaid College Trust account?

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Disclosure Statement

Please read the entire Enrollment Kit carefully before deciding to enroll. The Maryland College Investment Plan Disclosure Statement provides investment objectives, risks, expenses and costs, Fees, and other information you should consider carefully before investing. If you or your beneficiary live outside of Maryland, you should compare Maryland 529 to any college savings program offered by your home state or your beneficiary’s home state, which may offer state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in such state’s 529 plan.

*Morningstar analysts reviewed 62 plans for its 2019 ratings (10/22/19), of which 13 plans received a “Silver” rating. To determine a plan’s rating, Morningstar’s analysts considered 5 factors: the plan’s strategy and investment process; the plan’s risk-adjusted performance; an assessment of the individuals managing the plan’s investment options; the stewardship practices of the plan’s administration and parent firm; and whether the plan’s investment options are a good value proposition compared with its peers. Plans were then assigned forward-looking ratings of “Gold,” “Silver,” “Bronze,” “Neutral,” and “Negative.” Each year, certain of the industry’s smallest plans are not rated.

Analyst Ratings are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar analysts’ current expectations about future events and, therefore, involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar’s expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees.

Please read the entire Enrollment Kit carefully before deciding to enroll. The Maryland College Investment Plan Disclosure Statement provides investment objectives, risks, expenses and costs, Fees, and other information you should consider carefully before investing. If you or your beneficiary live outside of Maryland, you should compare Maryland 529 to any college savings program offered by your home state or your beneficiary’s home state, which may offer state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in such state’s 529 plan.

*Morningstar analysts reviewed 62 plans for its 2018 ratings (10/30/18), of which 10 plans received a “Silver” rating. To determine a plan’s rating, Morningstar’s analysts considered 5 factors: the plan’s strategy and investment process; the plan’s risk-adjusted performance; an assessment of the individuals managing the plan’s investment options; the stewardship practices of the plan’s administration and parent firm; and whether the plan’s investment options are a good value proposition compared with its peers. Plans were then assigned forward-looking ratings of “Gold,” “Silver,” “Bronze,” “Neutral,” and “Negative.” Each year, certain of the industry’s smallest plans are not rated.

Analyst Ratings are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar analysts’ current expectations about future events and, therefore, involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar’s expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees.

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